I thought I was in charge
by Lady of 3ar
Summary: An OC girl in Hightown named Calico gets way in over her head while fighting for what she believes is right, with plenty of life-threatening shenanigans thown in, and an a old penchant for pretty dresses ... with a possible love interest. LOTS of OCs, plenty of interfering canon peeps popping up here and there. This will be my first adventure.


Calico occupied a shack wedged in an alley underneath the lowliest of Lowtown's apartments, draining down to the dank quarried maze of the Undercity, just above the blanket of chokedamp and around the corner from the Alienage. Sometimes people were lured inside, orphans with nothing to left to lose but their wide-eyed innocence. She would make them an offer, an offer that was in their best interests to accept.

It didn't take an unreasonable effort to gain the trust of the starving brats that roamed the streets. Homeless children in particular have to learn how to survive alone on petty thievery, which means a certain level of resilience and scruples are basic needs one must develop if one's ass is constantly on the line. Even so, cunning predators can reach through the jaded attitude to a kid's innate instinct to take a carefully worded opportunity presented in an outstretched hand that would spiral them into slavery, prostitution, or cannon fodder for mercenary gangs.

Tonight, Calico hunted a special prey. A frazzled boy, maybe 10 years old, who'd adapted well to hiding under vacant stalls in the drafty Lowtown plazas during the last several weeks, had moved down into the disused passages in the warehouse district on the Docks, where he risked less disturbance from annoyed vendors and the guard. This also placed him in a popular hangout for cutthroats and deranged beggars. Calico once watched the boy elude a trio of pirates in need of a powdermonkey on some ship called _The Curlew_.

She recognized his dirty red hair poking out of a side-turned barrel he had crawled inside to sleep in. There was a small bag tucked under her arm as she walked in a straight line down the passage. She slipped it off her shoulder and dropped it next his head without stopping.

The boy jolted awake, smacking his head against the rim of the barrel. She slipped into the shadows around a corner, slid down and waited three seconds before taking a peek. He snatched the bag and tugged the drawstring, retreating further inside the barrel. He reached inside for the apple and the fresh loaf of bread, frantically biting into one after the other while unfolding a note.

_You are being followed. You know who they are and what they will do if they find you._

_I'm not going to pretend like I know what you went through to arrive here, but I hope you will learn that I am someone who wants to help. My name is Calico, and I think we have a lot in common. If you ever feel like you need a safe place, come visit the location marked on the map. Others like you have found shelter here, and we work together to make life easier on each other. You don't have to stay or make any promises, just take a look and judge for yourself. Or you can forget about this note and keep the money -_

At this point he promptly shook out the bag, dropping several silver coins on his stomach. He clapped a hand over them, looking out his barrel in case anyone had heard the jingle. He picked up the note again.

_I'm offering you a home. You are welcome to stop by anytime._

_- Calico_

_PS. I apologize for the shady invitation. It seems we're both in need of some secrecy.  
_

He surreptitiously inspected the dark passages nearby, but she was already gone.

* * *

Calico opened the door to her house to hear agitated voices arguing over each other. She hesitated, wondering whether she really wanted to deal with whatever was going on the other side before sighing and slipping in.

"- going to bring home the guard one day!"

"Garth, shut up about it already, I know what I'm d-"

"No, you don't! You're putting us all in danger! Don't be so damn selfish - "

"_Hamin, lethallin _..."

"Great, you're upsetting Mila. Are you happy now? You feel like a big man?"

"Order!" Calico shouted, rapping her knuckles on the table. All three of them jumped. She gave them an incredulous look. "What the hell is it now?"

Garth crossed his arms, scowling like his life depended on it. A twiggy, dark caramel haired girl pouted, shifting her weight to the other leg, hands on her hips in her favorite _don't mess with me_ pose. Calico unconsciously mirrored them both, ready for bitch storms with a chance of scattered snark.

Mila broke the uncomfortable quiet. "_Aneth ara, Hahren_."

Calico flashed her a smile. "Hi, sweetie."

Garth blurt out, "Yvette's been stealing from the warehouses on the docks."

Yvette sent him a withering look. "I can't believe you're tattling on me."

Calico narrowed her eyes. Yvette opened her mouth like she was about to explain, but Garth beat her to it. "She took _that_ - " he pointed to two large sacks next to the fireplace. "- from _pirates_!"

"It's not like they really need the vegetables, they're a bunch of bloodthirsty morons who would have starved at sea anyways, and they didn't catch me taking it - "

"Until you got cocky and went back for the spices. You're only alive because you 'happened' to bump into me so I could distract them from chasing you all the way here! Don't you realize how close you were to getting us killed?"

Calico rubbed her forehead before responding. "Stealing again? From _pirates_?"

"They'll be gone soon anyway, they won't waste too much effort looking for just one measly shipment."

"That's not how it works!" Garth shouted.

"That sounds really reckless, Yvette." Calico said quietly. "We talked about this. You broke your promise."

Yvette's face fell. "That's not fair! I'm trying to provide for us!"

"That's not your job, and that's not how we do things." She shook her head, shrugging in an exasperated attempt to find better words she hadn't used before, finding none. "You've let me down again."

A shadow passed over her pale features. "You're right, it's not my job. It's _yours_."

Calico bristled. Buttons? Pushed. Yvette was snowballing, and the girl was too riled up to know it. "How can _you_ tell me I'm putting us in danger? You're a bloody alchemist, you make poisons and bombs for a living! You think the people buying that stuff are ... are, what, planting them in the ground and hoping for flowers?"

"I know the type of people my work attracts, and trust me when I say they're nothing we -"

"SO WHAT if you've spent your whole life dodging the bad guys, where's that gotten you? How long can we keep this up? As much as you've helped us, you can't really keep us safe because if you're not invisible, you're the first they'll come after. It's _us_ who take care of _you_! YOU'RE HOLDING US BACK!"

The silence that followed could have snuffed out candles, wilted grass, suffocate a small bird perhaps. The room had definitely gotten darker somehow. Calico watched Yvette seethe from behind a blank mask, wondering how long her friend had felt this way. "Are you done?"

"No. I'm barely getting started." She shouldered past Garth, who wore an stupefied expression. She picked up a shortbow off the mantle, nestled in a stained leather holster and slung it over her back. "I have skills you don't, and I can go places you shouldn't. I don't need you."

"You're 14."

"And just look at what I did in one night." She swept an arm at the aromatic bundles wrapped in twine, stuffed into a box in the corner of the sparse room. It really was an impressive haul for a girl her size. "That girl Hawke did more for her family than you ever did!"

"Right now all I see that you have done is put the guard on alert for thieves. Sure, maybe we can eat well for a few days but in the long run it'll be harder to just get to and from the docks. They'll bump up patrols and harass any poor sod wandering after curfew." She paused before addressing the elephant in the room everyone listening had been thinking about. "Like Ian."

Yvette didn't answer, frozen in a forced resentful glare. Mila perked up at the name but said nothing. Calico closed her eyes, inhaling slowly, then said,"I know, I'm a total hypocrite for telling you all this. But this is a case of 'do as I say, not as I do.' I'm not your mom, I can't really boss you. But I get scared for you."

The fire popped and crackled as a log collapsed, sending bright embers shooting up the chimney. Yvette glared at something on the floor. If Calico looked deep enough, she could spy something like guilt behind the girl's eyes. Years of cold hardship caught up with her, and she almost chuckled at her own density. Suddenly this conversation wasn't about her own shortcomings as the adult in this group.

"How did you even get in there? Past the guards, the traps, etcetera?"

She snorted. "I'm not an idiot. I found way in that wouldn't have to deal with either."

Calico thought for a moment. "Rafters?"

Yvette nodded, a slight smug quirk on the corner of her mouth, "Got in through a window from one of the building next door. Never even set foot on the ground."

Nodding back, returning the half-smile. "Nice."

"_Cal!_"

"Incredibly stupid to try all by yourself, mind you. But I gotta say, it's a clever idea."

"... Thanks?"

Garth's face turned red. "You, of all people, shouldn't encourage her!"

"Oh, I'm not." Calico said airily, walking to the rickety dining table. "But she's going to do whatever she want's anyway. All I'm saying is that if she wants to act like a big girl, she's going to have to live with whatever choices she makes. "

Calico reached under the table, proceeding to pick out some vegetables from a basket. She glanced at Yvette, a hand loosely hanging on the sling around her shoulder. "Are you going to stay for dinner, at least?"

The brunette looked indignant, but pulled the holster off and replaced it on the mantle.

"Help me chop that potato then, it's getting late and I want to make dinner."

Garth threw up his hands in defeat and stomped away. They chopped up the vegetables and slid them into the cauldron. A few sprigs of herbs and crushed peppercorns were popped into the broth, thanks to Yvette's misadventures. Later when asked what exactly she had brought home she smiled slyly, "Sugar ... and spices."

A knock on the door make Calico's blood suddenly run cold. A heavy feeling like the tide at midnight crashing against her chest filled her before she could quell it. Yvette was like lightning, a serrated dagger appearing in one hand from nowhere. Mila scurried under the table behind Garth's legs, who stood ready with fisticuffs and a (more intimidating) wild-eyed expression.

"Wait," Calico said, the rush vanishing in a flash of realization. "I think I know who it is. You'll scare him off."

"Isn't that the point?" Garth hissed.

"It might not be them." She took the door handle, gesturing to Yvette to lower her weapon. "I'll handle this." She swung open the door.

Nothing. Confused, she poked her head out and looked both ways. The alley was deserted, cobwebs drifting under the orange glow of scattered torch sconces. He was here, she had a strong feeling that there was just something she was missing. Peering into the shadows she looked for a hole, an absence of anything missing floating in the energy in the ether. It was a familiar practice; find a pocket of absolute nothing in the fabric of reality and you will find something that does not want to b found.

"Are you Calico?" A red haired boy emerged from the dark directly in front of her. He hadn't done much to conceal himself, yet she hadn't ... couldn't notice him standing there. He simply did not want to be seen, and was therefore unobserved.

"That's a very useful trick." She murmured. "I'm impressed." He flinched, body tensed and ready to bolt.

"Calm down, I'm not interested in turning you in." Calico pushed the door open all the way. "I was just about to set the table for dinner. Would you like to join us?"

He peered longingly into the warm-lit room, the smell of hot soup wafting out against the dank mildew in the streets. His gaze flicked back to Calico. "Why should I trust you?"

She felt a small surge of approval. "Honestly, I'm glad you asked. You're not like a lot of other kids."

He averted his eyes, visibly withdrawing inside himself. She realized she'd said the wrong thing, too late. His voice was clear but soft. "Aren't I? What really makes me so different?"

"I'm sorry, that's not what I mea-"

"I'm just like all the rest. I played with my friends, I got good marks in my studies, I love my parents. I believe in the Maker, I am afraid. I haven't done anything wrong, why do they want to kill me?"

His downcast, vacant eyes haunted Calico, too bright, possessed by a trauma still too raw to handle. Like an unravelling thread, he was close to snapping. She knelt to his level, trying to meet his eye. "What's your name?"

"Owen."

"Owen, I'm going to tell you a truth."

He looked up, a little bleary eyed. "We're all the same." He scoffed, responding with a slow blink. "No, listen. Here's why: When I was little there was an accident. Templars ... they discovered a mage in Hightown. They threatened her family and she killed them in terror. Fathers, brothers, just and corrupt ... " Calico swallowed hard. "They never got to hug their families goodbye, and could never watch another sunrise or shop at the market. And their families are still alive today, filling their absence with unwavering fear and hatred for mages. But you know what? That mage was 8 years old. Her parents died in front of her and she panicked. But to those families she's just a nameless, faceless mage that destroyed an important piece of their world. And that's a fire that's so very difficult to put out."

"I never hurt anyone! I just, I ...don't even know what I am supposed to be! What am I supposed to do?"

Calico took a deep breath, letting the tide return to her body, welling down into her palm like a river through a cracked dam. She touched the earth between them with her fingertips, letting the energy spill into the dry, dead dirt. A pale green shoot struck out, spiralling through the dirt into a strong verdant stem forking into leafy branches, pearly white petals spinning from bunched buds into puffy freckled petals. Owen's eye's grew wide and dazzled by the display of sheer creation, tears dripping down dirty cheeks.

"I'm sick of being just another nameless, faceless killer." She held out her hand. "Be who you are, and make them marvel at what you create. We're so much more than secretive incantations. It's up to us to change this image, and remind everyone that we are just like them."

He blinked, focus returning as he nodded. He reached for her hand, his first smile breaking her heart in its earnestness, and she smiled back a silent _Thank you_ as she led him inside.

* * *

_A/N: Wow! First chapter of my first story is finally out! No going back now. This was more of an introductory chapter for some of the original characters that I'm bringing to the table. The next should start to gain momentum down the plot-hill with some more familiar faces. If there's anything too vague (or obnoxiously obvious), or if there's anything at all you'd like to comment on, your review would mean the world to me. Thanks for reading!_


End file.
